(ABSENCE OF) FOREST RIGHTS IN CHANDRAPUR

In Gadchiroli district more than 1000 pattas have been distributed to tribals under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, including a joint patta to the village Mendha Lekha which has exercised its forest rights under the leadership of Mohan Hirabai Hiralal.

However, the story in Chandrapur district is quite the opposite. More than 12000 claims have been filed and almost nobody has got a patta yet. The district administration started out on a very slow note. In fact Shramik Elgar prepared and filed claims even before the administration started to move. Initially the Tribal Development Department which is the nodal implementation agency did not know what to do because it did not have any personnel at the village level and had to depend on Gram Sevaks who were under the Zilla Parishad. Additionally the forest department was not cooperative at all. Even six months back the village level claims had not been forwarded to the SDOs. Presently the claims are being verified using GPS introduced by the Forest Department.

Meanwhile, the injustice against local communities continues. In September 2009 the forest department confiscated the fishing nets of fishermen at village Mohadi, Taluka Sindewahi on the grounds that half of the Naleshwar reservoir, which has been the fishing source for communities since 1920s, has been included under the forest buffer zone. Shramik Elgar agitated to retrieve the nets as also to establish the fishing rights of the neighbouring villages.

In November 2009, twenty tribal cultivators were charged by the forest department and eight were arrested. Shramik Elgar agitated to compound the POR and also establish the right to cultivation.

The snail’s pace of implementation of the Forest Rights Act in Chandrapur district is a case study in itself. The contrast with Gadchiroli district which is affected by Naxalite violence is particularly telling. It is quite clear that in Maharashtra the administration works under fear and pressure of the Naxalites otherwise why should there be such a difference in the performances of two contiguous districts?

Chandrapur farely poorly even in comparison with Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh. Twelve villages on the border of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are claimed by both states. A cursory survey of these villages showed that the district administration of Adilabad, AP have moved far ahead in implementation of the Act whereas Chandrapur administration is nowhere in the picture.